Boston echoes in Senate immigration hearing

The fallout from the Boston bombings continues to complicate an already thorny congressional debate over reforming the nation’s immigration laws.

One week afterward, some Republican lawmakers and immigration reform critics pointed to the bombings as a reason to hit pause on reform. Democrats who have long championed reform accused Republicans of exploiting the attacks. And one senator briefly lost his temper at a colleague, clearly frustrated by accusations that he was trying to use the bombings to derail reform.

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“I do not want to see comprehensive immigration reform fall victim to entrenched, partisan opposition,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Monday. “Let us continue to work together to make this bill better, rather than making sure that nothing can get done.”

But opposition to moving the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill grew Monday, as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that Congress “should not proceed” with immigration reform until lawmakers had a clearer picture of the Tsarnaev brothers’ background.

The Tsarnaev brothers legally emigrated with their family to the United States as children, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev — the younger brother who is hospitalized in serious condition — is a naturalized U.S. citizen, according to authorities. Tamerlan, who was killed early Friday during the massive citywide manhunt for the suspects, was a greencard holder.

“Why did the current system allow two individuals to [emigrate] to the United States from the Chechen Republic in Russia, an area known as a hotbed of Islamic extremism, who then committed acts of terrorism?” Paul asked Reid in his letter. “Were there any safeguards? Could this have been prevented? Does the immigration reform before us address this?”

Monday’s daylong hearing hosted more than 20 witnesses, including immigration activists, security experts, religious leaders and former elected officials. It was the second on immigration reform since the so-called Gang of Eight unveiled its bill last week.

Janet Napolitano, secretary of Homeland Security, is scheduled to testify before the panel on Tuesday.

Some witnesses urged lawmakers to train a more critical eye on immigration reform in light of the Boston attacks.

Mark Krikorian, the director of the Center for Immigration Studies, questioned whether the background checks required in the Senate legislation of undocumented immigrants to become legalized would be sufficient, considering an FBI investigation into Tamerlan Tsarnaev did not find any terrorist activity — domestic or foreign.

“The Boston bombing is not an excuse for delay of considering this immigration bill, but it is an illustration of certain problems that exist with our immigration system,” testified Krikorian, whose group supports less immigration.

“The background checks in this bill are insufficient to prevent a terrorist from getting amnesty,” added Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who helped draft Arizona’s strict immigration law.

Leahy opened the hearing by denouncing reform critics’ use of the Boston bombings as a way to slow down immigration reform, calling that tactic “cruel.”

“If you have ways to improve the bill, offer an amendment when we start markup in May and let’s vote on it,” added Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a key immigration negotiator. “I say that particularly to those who are pointing to what happened, the terrible tragedy in Boston as — I would say excuse — for not doing a bill or to delaying it many months or years.”